Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku; Muhammad Ntale; Hannington Oryem Origa

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12

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Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku, Muhammad Ntale, Hannington Oryem Origa

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 2, Issue 4)

Received: 14 July 2014 Accepted: 24 July 2014 Published: 30 July 2014

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Abstract

Generation of enormous volume of wastes from mining activities that pollute the surrounding environment is still a global challenge. Pollution emanating from the wastes usually leads to loss of vegetation cover whose re-establishment through phytoremediation requires an assemblage of the physico-chemical data of the soils on which designing of remediation strategies are based. Thus, the physico-chemical characterisation of the tailings and pyrite soils was conducted following standard procedures and their variation across depths, seasons and earmarked zones evaluated. Both copper tailings and pyrite soils were extremely acidic, deficient in total nitrogen and available phosphorous and heavily polluted with Cu, Co and Ni relative to the unpolluted soils. The distribution of available P, total nitrogen and heavy metals was heterogenous varying significantly across zones, depths and not significantly across seasons except available phosphorous. Re-adjustment of the physico-chemical parameters to levels that permit seedling establishment and growth through application of amendment materials is a pre-requisite for any successful phytoremediation. Evenness in their application may be hard to achieve leading to emergence of red spots hence a need for close monitoring during the phytoremediation programme.

Published in	International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12
Page(s)	191-198
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Physico-Chemical, Copper Tailings, Pyrite Trail, Tailings Dams, Phytoremediation

References

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APA Style

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku, Muhammad Ntale, Hannington Oryem Origa. (2014). Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 2(4), 191-198. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12

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ACS Style

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku; Muhammad Ntale; Hannington Oryem Origa. Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2014, 2(4), 191-198. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12

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AMA Style

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku, Muhammad Ntale, Hannington Oryem Origa. Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2014;2(4):191-198. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12,
  author = {Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku and Muhammad Ntale and Hannington Oryem Origa},
  title = {Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation},
  journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
  volume = {2},
  number = {4},
  pages = {191-198},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20140204.12},
  abstract = {Generation of enormous volume of wastes from mining activities that pollute the surrounding environment is still a global challenge. Pollution emanating from the wastes usually leads to loss of vegetation cover whose re-establishment through phytoremediation requires an assemblage of the physico-chemical data of the soils on which designing of remediation strategies are based.  Thus, the physico-chemical characterisation of the tailings and pyrite soils was conducted following standard procedures and their variation across depths, seasons and earmarked zones evaluated. Both copper tailings and pyrite soils were extremely acidic, deficient in total nitrogen and available phosphorous and heavily polluted with Cu, Co and Ni relative to the unpolluted soils. The distribution of available P, total nitrogen and heavy metals was heterogenous varying significantly across zones, depths and not significantly across seasons except available phosphorous. Re-adjustment of the physico-chemical parameters to levels that permit seedling establishment and growth through application of amendment materials is a pre-requisite for any successful phytoremediation. Evenness in their application may be hard to achieve leading to emergence of red spots hence a need for close monitoring during the phytoremediation programme.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation
AU  - Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku
AU  - Muhammad Ntale
AU  - Hannington Oryem Origa
Y1  - 2014/07/30
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12
T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
SP  - 191
EP  - 198
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7667
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12
AB  - Generation of enormous volume of wastes from mining activities that pollute the surrounding environment is still a global challenge. Pollution emanating from the wastes usually leads to loss of vegetation cover whose re-establishment through phytoremediation requires an assemblage of the physico-chemical data of the soils on which designing of remediation strategies are based.  Thus, the physico-chemical characterisation of the tailings and pyrite soils was conducted following standard procedures and their variation across depths, seasons and earmarked zones evaluated. Both copper tailings and pyrite soils were extremely acidic, deficient in total nitrogen and available phosphorous and heavily polluted with Cu, Co and Ni relative to the unpolluted soils. The distribution of available P, total nitrogen and heavy metals was heterogenous varying significantly across zones, depths and not significantly across seasons except available phosphorous. Re-adjustment of the physico-chemical parameters to levels that permit seedling establishment and growth through application of amendment materials is a pre-requisite for any successful phytoremediation. Evenness in their application may be hard to achieve leading to emergence of red spots hence a need for close monitoring during the phytoremediation programme.
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku

Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Muhammad Ntale

Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Hannington Oryem Origa

Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

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APA Style

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku, Muhammad Ntale, Hannington Oryem Origa. (2014). Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 2(4), 191-198. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12

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ACS Style

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku; Muhammad Ntale; Hannington Oryem Origa. Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2014, 2(4), 191-198. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12

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AMA Style

Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku, Muhammad Ntale, Hannington Oryem Origa. Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2014;2(4):191-198. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12,
  author = {Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku and Muhammad Ntale and Hannington Oryem Origa},
  title = {Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation},
  journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
  volume = {2},
  number = {4},
  pages = {191-198},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20140204.12},
  abstract = {Generation of enormous volume of wastes from mining activities that pollute the surrounding environment is still a global challenge. Pollution emanating from the wastes usually leads to loss of vegetation cover whose re-establishment through phytoremediation requires an assemblage of the physico-chemical data of the soils on which designing of remediation strategies are based.  Thus, the physico-chemical characterisation of the tailings and pyrite soils was conducted following standard procedures and their variation across depths, seasons and earmarked zones evaluated. Both copper tailings and pyrite soils were extremely acidic, deficient in total nitrogen and available phosphorous and heavily polluted with Cu, Co and Ni relative to the unpolluted soils. The distribution of available P, total nitrogen and heavy metals was heterogenous varying significantly across zones, depths and not significantly across seasons except available phosphorous. Re-adjustment of the physico-chemical parameters to levels that permit seedling establishment and growth through application of amendment materials is a pre-requisite for any successful phytoremediation. Evenness in their application may be hard to achieve leading to emergence of red spots hence a need for close monitoring during the phytoremediation programme.},
 year = {2014}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Copper Tailings and Pyrite Soils in Western Uganda: Implication for Phytoremediation
AU  - Jamilu Edirisa Ssenku
AU  - Muhammad Ntale
AU  - Hannington Oryem Origa
Y1  - 2014/07/30
PY  - 2014
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12
T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
SP  - 191
EP  - 198
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2328-7667
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20140204.12
AB  - Generation of enormous volume of wastes from mining activities that pollute the surrounding environment is still a global challenge. Pollution emanating from the wastes usually leads to loss of vegetation cover whose re-establishment through phytoremediation requires an assemblage of the physico-chemical data of the soils on which designing of remediation strategies are based.  Thus, the physico-chemical characterisation of the tailings and pyrite soils was conducted following standard procedures and their variation across depths, seasons and earmarked zones evaluated. Both copper tailings and pyrite soils were extremely acidic, deficient in total nitrogen and available phosphorous and heavily polluted with Cu, Co and Ni relative to the unpolluted soils. The distribution of available P, total nitrogen and heavy metals was heterogenous varying significantly across zones, depths and not significantly across seasons except available phosphorous. Re-adjustment of the physico-chemical parameters to levels that permit seedling establishment and growth through application of amendment materials is a pre-requisite for any successful phytoremediation. Evenness in their application may be hard to achieve leading to emergence of red spots hence a need for close monitoring during the phytoremediation programme.
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download